STEPHEN PADDOCK...........Las Vegas shooter owned over 40 guns

At least 59 people were killed and 525 injured after a deadly shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

The suspected gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada, rained bullets down from the 32nd floor of a flashy Vegas hotel onto a 22,000-strong crowd.

Eyewitnesses have described their terror as crowds, including children, stampeded while running for their lives.

“It seemed like people were hit everywhere,” according to Steve Smith, a 45-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona.

Smith and other witnesses said that they thought the gunshots were fireworks before realising the source of the noise.

“People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on.

“Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again,” he continued

Police said that the shooter, who killed himself before they reached him, acted alone.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence to support the claim

Officers have located Paddock’s housemate Marilou Danley, in Tokyo. She was previously named a person of interest, but they now say she is not thought to be connected to the case. However, investigators still want to interview her to clarify the case.

How the attack unfolded:

• At about 10:08 p.m. local time Sunday, the Route 91 Harvest festival, a country music concert, was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, witnesses said.

• Police said the gunman fired on the crowd of about 22,000 people from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, several hundred feet southwest of the concert grounds.

• Country music singer Jason Aldean was performing when the gunshots began, according to witnesses' cell phone video.

• "The gunshots lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. It didn't stop," said witness Rachel de Kerf.

Police said 23 guns were found in Paddock’s hotel room and another 19 firearms, some explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found at his home, located 145 km northeast of Las Vegas. Police have seized some “electronic devices” for evaluation. A second house, more than 644 km northwest of Las Vegas, is also connected to Paddock and will be searched by Police.

Paddock’s firearms have been associated with Guns & Guitars shop in Mesquite, where Paddock was from. Chris Sullivan, the owner of the gun shop, is cooperating with investigators and has confirmed the shooter was a customer. Sullivan said Paddock cleared “all necessary background checks and procedures”.

“He never gave any indication or reason to believe he was unstable or unfit at any time,“ Sullivan told.

US President Donald Trump made a speech following the fatal attack in which he called it “an act of pure evil”.

It was the third and last night of the Route 91 Harvest festival. The stage was set up outside the Mandalay Bay resort. The event was sold-out and also featured country singers Eric Church and Sam Hunt.